The Ultimate Guide to United Miles: Part 8 – All the Ways to Get to Europe!

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United Airlines and its partner airlines such as Lufthansa fly many routes to Europe. In general, the United.com award booking page displays many routes to and from Europe, but the website doesn’t always show all available flights.

If you know which routes are available to get you across the Atlantic, you can search specifically for flights which have award seats available and which may fit your schedule better.

Remember, that you should search segment-by-segment starting with the long-haul segment over the Atlantic to get to Europe. And then find awards to your destination within Europe and from your departure city.

This post is a very detailed list of all the ways to get from the US to Europe. Please comment if anything is left out!

United Miles to Europe

When booking an award from the USA to Europe, there are 3 general steps to follow:

Find award seats from North America to Europe

Find award seats from the European gateway (the city where you first land in Europe) to your destination

Find award seats from your hometown to the North American gateway (the city from which you fly to Europe)

The following list, partly compiled from data from Wandering Aramean, shows which airlines (which you can book with United miles) fly from North America to Europe.

The list is organized by how many flights each airline flies between North America and Europe. So airlines with lots of flights are at the top of the list!

The Best Tip for Searching on United.com

Don’t forget to change your search results to show you 50 flights (instead of the default) when you search on United.com

Step 1 – Click On “Advanced Search”

Click on “Advanced Search” at the bottom of the award search page.

Step 1 – Click on “Advanced Search”

Step 2 – Change “Number of Flights to Display” To “50”

Click on the drop-down box by the “Number of Flights to Display” and change it from the “Default” to “50”

Step 2- Increase the Number of Flights to Display to 50

You will see MANY more flight options this way!

How To Use The Information In This Post

You could rely on United.com to find you awards seats to Europe. And United’s website is pretty good. But it is unlikely to find every possible option on using United miles to Europe.

If you’re really commited to finding award seats to Europe and don’t want to hire an award booking service, you could search for award seats on many of the routes below.

The information below will help you find the long-distance flight to Europe. Once you find the long-distance flight to Europe, you should start searching for flights to your final destination in Europe and then from your US departure city to the gateway (i.e. where the flight to Europe departs from the US).

C. Chicago O’Hare

You Can Fly On United To Six Different Cities In Europe From Chicago O’Hare

Amsterdam

Brussels

Frankfurt

London-Heathrow

Munich

Paris

D. Houston (IAH)

You can fly from Houston(IAH) to:

United Flies To Amsterdam, Frankfurt, And London From Houston

Amsterdam

Frankfurt

London-Heathrow

E. San Francisco (SFO)

You can fly from San Francisco (SFO) to:

From San Francisco You Can Fly On United To Frankfurt, London, Or Paris

Frankfurt

London-Heathrow

Paris

F. Los Angeles (LAX)

You can also fly from Los Angeles(LAX) to:

United’s Only European Destination From Los Angeles Is London

London-Heathrow

2. Lufthansa

Lufthansa is United Airlines’ main partner to Europe. They have good availability in Economy & Business class. However, First Class awards are only available within 14 days of departure, so you may need to be flexible if you want to fly Lufthansa First class!

A. Frankfurt (FRA)

Lufthansa First Class can be worth waiting for because they have lie flat seats and a special First Class Terminal in Frankfurt. You can visit the First Class Terminal only if you have a same-day Lufthansa First Class ticket.

Massage Chairs In The Lufthansa First Class Terminal In Frankfurt

You can fly to Frankfurt (FRA) from:

Lufthansa Flies To Frankfurt From These Cities

Atlanta

Boston

Chicago

Dallas/Fort Worth

Denver

Detroit

Houston

Los Angeles

Miami

Newark

New York (JFK)

Orlando

Philadelphia

San Francisco

Seattle

Washington

Mexico City

Toronto

Vancouver

B. Munich (MUC)

You can also fly to Munich(MUC) from:

You Can Fly On Lufthansa To Munich From These Cities

Boston

Charlotte

Chicago

Los Angeles

Newark

New York (JFK)

San Francisco

Washington

Montreal

Vancouver

C. Dusseldorf (DUS)

You can fly to Dusseldorf (DUS) from:

You Can Fly On Lufthansa To Dusseldorf From Chicago, Miami, Newark, Or Toronto

Chicago

Miami

Newark

Toronto

3. US Airways

US Airways is currently still part of the Star Alliance. But they only have Economy and Business class availability.

A. Philadelphia (PHL)

You can fly from Philadelphia(PHL) to:

You Can Fly On US Airways To Many European Cities From Philadelphia

Amsterdam

Athens

Barcelona

Brussels

Dublin

Frankfurt

Glasgow

Lisbon

London-Heathrow

Madrid

Manchester

Munich

Paris

Rome

Shannon

Venice

Zurich

B. Charlotte (CLT)

You can fly from Charlotte(CLT) to:

US Airways Flies To 7 European Cities From Charlotte

Dublin

Frankfurt

London-Gatwick

London-Heathrow

Madrid

Paris

Rome

4. Air Canada

Air Canada has many flights to Europe, and has award availability in Economy & Business class.

Air Canada is a Star Alliance partner, and many Star Alliance partners fly to Canada, in addition to the US. So, you can fly to Canada and from there to Europe!

A. Toronto (YYZ)

You can fly from Toronto(YYZ) to:

You Can Fly From Toronto On Air Canada To 14 European Cities

Athens

Barcelona

Copenhagen

Dublin

Edinburgh

Frankfurt

Geneva

London-Heathrow

Madrid

Munich

Paris

Rome

Venice

Zurich

B. Montreal (YUL)

You can fly from Montreal(YUL) to:

You Can Fly From Montreal On Air Canada to Europe

Athens

Brussels

Frankfurt

Geneva

London-Heathrow

Paris

Rome

C. Calgary (YYC), Ottawa (YOW), and Vancouver (YVR)

You can fly from Calgary(YYC), Ottawa(YOW), and Vancouver(YVR) to:

Frankfurt

London-Heathrow

D. Edmonton (YEG), Halifax (YHZ), and St. John’s (YYT)

You can fly from Edmonton (YEG), Halifax (YHZ), and St. John’s (YYT) to:

London-Heathrow (LHR)

5. Swiss

SWISS International Air Lines has decent availability in Economy & Business class. However, it’s very hard to find First Class availability using United miles.

A. Zurich (ZRH)

You can fly to Zurich (ZRH) from:

SWISS Flies To Zurich From 8 Different Cities

Boston

Chicago

Los Angeles

Miami

Newark

New York (JFK)

San Francisco

Montreal

B. Geneva (GVA)

You can fly to Geneva (GVA) from:

You Can Fly On SWISS To Geneva From Montreal, Newark, New York, Toronto, and Washington, DC

Newark

New York

Washington

Montreal

Toronto

6. Turkish Airlines

You can use United miles to book award seats in Economy & Business class on Turkish Airlines.

You can fly to Istanbul(IST) from:

Turkish Airlines Flies To Istanbul From These Cities

Boston (not on map)

Chicago

Houston

Los Angeles

Montreal (not on map)

New York (JFK)

San Francisco (starting soon)

Washington, DC

Toronto

You can find more award availability from Houston to Istanbul than the other cities.

7. SAS

You can use your United miles to fly Economy and Business Class on Scandinavian Air Systems (SAS). Scandinavian Air Systems flies to a number of Nordic cities from several American cities.

SAS Flies From These North American Cities

A. Copenhagen (CPH)

You can fly to Copenhagen(CPH) from:

Chicago O’Hare

Newark

San Francisco

Washington DC

B. Stockholm (ARN)

You can fly to Stockholm(ARN) from:

Chicago O’Hare

Newark

C. Oslo (OSL)

You can fly to Oslo(OSL) from:

Newark

8. Aer Lingus

Aer Lingus is not a part of Star Alliance, but is a United partner airline. You can use your United miles to book flights on Aer Lingus.

A. Dublin (DUB)

You can fly to Dublin(DUB) from:

Aer Lingus Flies To Dublin From These Cities

Boston

Chicago

New York (JFK)

Orlando

San Francisco

9. Austrian Airlines

You can use United miles to fly on Austrian Airlines in Economy and Business class to Vienna (VIE) from:

You Can Fly On Austrian Airlines To Vienna (Wien) From Chicago, New York, Toronto, And Washington, DC

Chicago

New York (JFK)

Washington

Toronto

10. LOT Polish Airlines

You can also use United miles to fly on LOT Polish Airlines in Economy and Business Class to Warsaw (WAW) from:

LOT Polish Airlines Flies To Warsaw From These Cities

Chicago

New York (JFK)

Washington

Toronto

11. Brussels Airlines

You can use United miles to fly in Economy and Business Class on Brussels Airlines to Brussels(BRU) from:

You Can Fly From Washington DC and New York To Brussels On Brussels Airlines

13. Singapore Airlines

Singapore Airlines Flies From New York-JFK to Frankfurt and Houston to Moscow

New York (JFK) to Frankfurt

Houston to Moscow (DME)

14. Air New Zealand

You can use United miles to fly from Los Angeles to London-Heathrow on Air New Zealand. But Business Class availability can be tough to find because they reduced the number of flights to London.

Air New Zealand Flies From Los Angeles To London

Bottom Line

Using United miles to Europe is one of the best ways to fly from the US to Europe. That’s because there are lots of flights on United and their partner airlines.

And also because United doesn’t charge fuel surcharges for flights from the US to Europe.

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38 responses to “The Ultimate Guide to United Miles: Part 8 – All the Ways to Get to Europe!”

I have been following your blog for several months now and just had to comment on this piece. I think it is superb! This is exactly what I was looking for and is extremely useful. Thank you so much for this information in one place. This page is definitely a keeper!

Hi Dariaus, is it possible to get a stopover in Europe from Asia and then to US only using 12000 miles for business round trip?. Example, hkg to Europe to New York and back to hk but only use one round trip award?

I am very new and trying to learn how to book a flight to Europe for 2 this year and then to Australia next year. We have Delta miles 210,000, US Air, 85,000, United Explorer in a month 30,000. Any suggestions where to start…..

Hey there, it’s great to know that you can book on Star Alliance member flights — but how do you see how many miles they are? For example, with Lufthansa? I’m looking to book a round trip ticket to from Newark to Heathrow in October. Thank you!
Kristen

I’m a complete newbie and it seems like the more I read, the more confused I get.
Maybe you guys can make some suggestions.
I have about 148K united award miles and roughly 200k Hilton points (Which may be ok in Cat 1 and 2 hotels, of which there are a few but not a huge selection)
I am attempting to plan a trip using all the tips I have been reading about but it’s still daunting
I have myself and my 14 yr old daughter and I want to go to London at a min but would like to try and hit another country or two in Europe (Greece, Romania, Turkey) Romania has some Cat 2 Hilton hotels that wouldn’t consume much of my points but Greece may be a Cat 5 in athens which would wipe me out after only a few days.
So task is using about 150K awards miles, maybe a Stopover in London for about 7-10 days ( I have friends I can stay with there so I’d keep hotel points for the next couple legs.
Then Romania for maybe 5-9 days ( at 10K/night, would leave me about 150K for another hotel in Greece for maybe 3 days)
That’s all my hotel points
I’d think I can fly to London – Stopover for the 7-9 days, then on to either Bucharest and rent a car to get to Cluj-Napoca and Sibiu for a few days, then Open Jaw (maybe take a train?) to Athens and try and get back to the US. Keep in mind I’m in Denver so I have to originate in Denver and get home.
Denver to London (Stopover) then to either Greece or Romania (not married to these places so suggestions welcome) Open Jaw to the one I go to 2nd and try and get home from there.

I seem to be rambling now but I am planning this for roughly 3 weeks duration with a start window window opening at the end of May and extending no longer than probably the middle of June. The end of the trip can’t protrude too far into July.

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